From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Gafni says Haredi representatives in local government must halt cooperation with cops over draft dodger arrests
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Following the arrest of several draft evaders overnight, Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni sends a letter to party representatives in local government throughout the country instructing them to halt all cooperation with law enforcement.
“Following the change in policy by the Israel Police, and so that we do not, God forbid, become complicit in harming the holy Torah and those who study it, I request that you immediately halt all cooperation with the Israel Police, including the municipal policing units, until further notice,” he writes.
Following harsh criticism from both the military and the High Court of Justice, the Israel Police announced last week that Commissioner Danny Levy had issued new orders to officers to detain draft dodgers and wait for the Military Police to pick them up.
According to the hardline Jerusalem Faction, three yeshiva students were arrested for draft evasion overnight.
Following the arrests, activists arrived to protest outside the home of the security chief of the IDF’s Neve Tzedek Military Prison near Beit Lid.
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